Mission
The Sun Will Rise Foundation provides free peer grief support for people bereaved due to substance use related causes including overdose, suicide, homicide, accidents and medical complications. We recognize the unique challenges of these deaths and offer care, compassion, community and understanding to help individuals and families navigate grief with connection and support.
Vision
A compassionate world where individuals and families bereaved by substance use related deaths find healing, peer support and community free from stigma and shame.
Our Story
The Sun Will Rise Foundation exists because Robyn Houston-Bean’s twenty year old son Nicholas Bean died from an accidental polysubstance overdose in May 2015.
In the aftermath of that traumatic sudden death, Robyn searched for purpose and a reason to move forward. When she was able to function again, she knew she would do something in Nick’s memory.
After attending a peer grief support group in Brighton MA and experiencing firsthand how powerful it was to sit with others who understood, she recognized that similar support was needed closer to home on the South Shore. In December 2015, the first Sun Will Rise peer grief support meeting was held at Braintree MA Town Hall so families in Braintree, Weymouth, Quincy and surrounding communities would not have to grieve alone.
Additional groups soon followed in Quincy MA and Weymouth MA.
Growing the Foundation
The Sun Will Rise Foundation was formally established as a 501c3 nonprofit organization and expanded beyond peer grief support to include education, awareness and prevention efforts.
In 2020, peer grief support expanded across Massachusetts with additional in person groups. When the covid pandemic paused in person meetings, the foundation transitioned to virtual support, welcoming participants from across the country. Some groups remain virtual, new in person groups have launched and specialty online groups have grown.
In 2023, grief support expanded to Portland Maine through partnership with The Family Restored. Independent grief groups across Massachusetts have joined under the umbrella of The Sun Will Rise Foundation to strengthen and unify support efforts.
Today, the foundation offers over 40 monthly peer grief support meetings.
Peer Led Support
These groups exist because of volunteer facilitators.
Every facilitator has the lived experience of having someone they care about die due to substance use related causes. This peer model is at the heart of the foundation. It ensures that every group is led by someone who truly understands the complexity of this grief. Peer support makes this work possible.
Partnerships
The Sun Will Rise Foundation partners with organizations across Massachusetts to expand access to peer grief support. Through our partnership with Support After Death by Overdose, HALO Initiatives and other community organizations, we work collaboratively to ensure people impacted by substance use related deaths have access to compassionate, peer led support.
